Journey back to the 1983 Winnipeg Railway Jamboree at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's March 2022 meeting

We have a very special nostalgic treat at our next meeting! A video of the 1983 Railway Jamboree NMRA national convention held in Winnipeg, which has been viewed only once, has been digitized and will be screened at our March meeting. 

The video was made by the late Roger Kiendl, who carried around a very bulky video camera and taped several highlights of the convention in this 35 minute video. We will also have a short presentation about the making of this landmark convention,  followed by a Q&A session with some of the participants and volunteers at this convention. 

Neil Carleton will also conduct a workshop on how to make small flicker free LED lighting for cabooses and passenger cars.

The fun starts on Friday, March 11, at the Tank Room in the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Please note that the time of our meetings has been permanently changed from 7:30PM to 7:00PM. We will be holding our monthly model and photo display, and the canteen will be open. 

Please note that the provincial guidelines are still in effect at this date. The Legion requires proof of full vaccination for entry. Masks will be required at the meeting.

This will be a combination in-person and a Zoom meeting. All members will receive a Zoom link. If you are not a member and wish to attend, please email us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we will send you a link.

Spend a night at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum with the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club on January 14

Ken Beuhler, Executive Director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, is seen in front of Union       Pacific's Big Boy, which made a stop in Duluth at the museum in 2019.

The WMRC having a night at the museum! Ken Beuhler, Executive Director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum is going to conduct a tour of  this spectacular museum just for us! The museum was founded in the late 1960s and gained traction with the preservation of the Northern Pacific's Union Depot in downtown Duluth by the Museum's founders. They saved the building and created an Arts Culture and History Center. It made the front cover of TIME magazine when it opened. USA Today voted the Museum the "Best Transportation Museum in America." The museum has become one of the major tourist attractions in the Duluth Superior Region. In 2019, it hosted the Union Pacific’s “Big Boy”, which attracted 12,000 rail fans.

Dave MacLean, long time member and past president of the Model Railroad Club of Toronto, will showcase his club, one of the oldest in North America. Having forced to move in 2013 from its former 67 year run in a former WW2 era munitions factory, the Club is now in its fourth home. Since 2013, Club members have been building a new 3500 square foot layout featuring multiple deck construction, mushroom design concepts, soaring bridges over aisles, and walk in design to all areas. The Club  embraces traditional and new technology such as DCC/JMRI/WiThrottle to allow use of handheld devices for control of trains and turnouts. Recently 3D printing has been adopted. The layout features a mainline length of over 8 scale miles with full staging yards, with two major terminals to allow transition era Canadian railroad operations, with walk-along timetable passenger and waybill freight operations. The layout is fully signaled according to the 1960 Canadian Railway Operating Rules with full dispatcher functionality. 

The meeting takes place on Friday, January 14 at 7:00 PM. Due to COVID concerns, this will be an on-line only meeting on Zoom. We will be holding our member’s monthly model display. All members have received a Zoom link for this meeting. If you are not a member and wish to receive a link, email us at wmrc.train club@gmail.com and we will send you a link.

      An O scale CP passenger rounds the corner at the Model Railroad Club of Toronto's layout.

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club’s first clinic carnival in two years was a success

Tyler Fedoroshyn displayed his collection of models, structures and dioramas at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Clinic Carnival held on December 10 at the Charleswood Legion.  

It was a long time coming, but it was well worth it! The WMRC’s first clinic carnival in two years had some terrific clinics and a very good turnout. Much thanks to Program Director Dave Downie for organizing this great event!

  Tyler Fedoroshyn wowed the club with his spectacular display of modelling he did by making custom parts with his 3D printer. He also displayed several of his scratch built structures, which had detailed interiors.

Long time WMRC member Marcel Blair showed off his expert skills as he resurrected a 40 year old brass diesel engine. WMRC Past President Larry Leavens showed us how to “tune up” an inexpensive freight car to NMRA standards with weights, Kadee couplers and metal wheel sets.

WMRC treasurer John Bate couldn’t make it to the meeting, but he still was able to give a great presentation via Zoom about building turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs and using servo motors to operate them.

The club also held their annual Christmas hot dog banquet. Much thanks to our gourmet chefs, Dave Downie and Arlene Fetch, for cooking up all of those delicious tube steaks!

 Larry Leavens (right) shows WMRC President Bob Harrison how to upgrade rolling stock.

 

Marcel Blair shows Gary Stempnick how to revive brass diesel engines.

 

John Bate did his clinic about building turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs virtually via Zoom.

 

Some more examples of Tyler Fedoroshyn's models and structures.
 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club holds first Clinic Carnival in two years

 Come one, come all to the WMRC’s first clinic carnival in two years! The fun begins on Friday, December 10, at 7:00 PM at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The starting time of our meetings has been permanently changed from 7:30 to 7:00.
   We will also be holding our Christmas Hot Dog Banquet, so bring your appetites! We have a great line up of Winnipeg’s finest model railroaders who will demonstrate their skills.
        
        Robert Weaver – Photo Editing: Robert is amassing a collection of old photos, slides and negatives. He will show how he tackles the job to improve the quality of the images. Robert will explain the software that he uses.
        Marcel Blair – Resurrecting an Alco Models Brass Diesel: Marcel will show how he gets an old brass diesel model to run again. Replacement parts for a 40 year old model need to be found and adapted to fit. Here is your opportunity to learn how you can rebuild it!
        John Bate – Fast Tracks turnouts: John is a N Scale modeller who builds his turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs. Whether you model in N, HO or O Scale, if you want to build your own turnouts, the Fast Tracks system will work for you. A demonstration of using servo motors to control the turnouts will also be done.
        Larry Leavens - Freight Car Tune Up: What do you do with that $5 prize freight car you bought at Mega Train when it will not stay on the rails? A little tune up is needed. Couplers, correct weight and new wheel sets will greatly improve the performance of any rail car. Most ready to run cars are too light and might derail on curves or while being pushed through a turnout. The NMRA has a standard weight practice that will keep them on the rails. The Kadee coupler has become the standard coupler for HO today. For most cars it’s a simple swap, but for others it may take some work. Replacing plastic wheel sets with metal ones will greatly improve the operation.    
        Neil Carleton – Weathering: Neil will show how you can weather your rolling stock and structures using pan pastels and AK pencils. He'll have some models that he's working on so you can see his technique.
        Tyler Fedoroshyn – Model Building: Tyler will show samples of custom detailed and weathered locomotives along with 3D printed detail parts that he's created with his 3D Resin Printer. Tyler will also display an early winter scene in a freelanced village.
        
              The Legion requires proof of full vaccination for entry. Masks will be required at the meeting. Please bring a "tin for the bin" for Winnipeg Harvest. We will have a photo display, but there will be no model display.  If you can’t make it, please email us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we’ll send you a link. Only the business portion of the meeting will be broadcast on Zoom.
 

Rapido's Jason Shron gives the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club an exclusive tour of his layout on October 27

Mark Wednesday, October 27 on your calendar as Rapido's Jason Shron gives the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club an exclusive private tour of his layout! This is your opportunity to see one of Canada's most famous home layouts, which is still under construction. Ask Jason about his plan for the layout and its construction! The Zoom link will be sent to all club members. If you are not a member and wish to see this exciting event, please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com for a link.

Two great presentations at WMRC's October 15 in person (and virtual) meeting

We have two great Zoom presentations at our second in-person meeting of the season. First, Tom Price of Calgary will present How the Railways Developed Communication Across Canada. Tom is a 37 year CPR veteran who worked in Engineering and Maintenance of Way.

Then former WMRC member Marc Simpson of Coquitlam will make a presentation called The Hudson Bay Railway and HBM&S - The Means to an End. Marc got interested in the Hudson Bay Railway and HBM&S railway operations in the 1990's while working in Flin Flon. He has researched the history and operations of CN and subsequent operators of the lines north of The Pas. He will cover the history, operations and modelling of the CN, HBR and Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting (now known as HudBay minerals).

On top of that, the monthly model display and the photo display is also being held, and the canteen will be open!

The meeting will be held at the Canadian Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Please note that the date of the meeting has been moved from October 8 to October 15, and the time of the meeting has been changed from 7:30 to 7:00. The doors will be open at 6:30.

Capacity at the Tank Room at the Legion is limited to 50 persons. The Legion requires all visitors to the building to show proof of full vaccination before entry.  The province has mandated that masks will be required in all public places. If you wish to attend the meeting on Zoom please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com for a link.

 

Retired dispatcher Gordon Smith relives his days at the Delaware and Hudson Railway at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's September 17 meeting

Gordon Smith as a young man is pictured on a classic Delaware and Hudson Alco unit.

The second clinic of our September 17 meeting will be held by Gordon Smith, a retired dispatcher for the Delaware & Hudson and Canadian Pacific. Gordon is a prolific rail fan with a treasure trove of material. His presentation will cover the D&H railroad operations over all four Subdivisions including some trackage rights shots, in the time period from 1969 until he was transferred to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1993 when CP consolidated the D&H train dispatchers with those of the SOO Line.

The meeting starts at 7:30 PM in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard on September 17. Capacity at the Tank Room at the Legion is limited to 50 persons. The Legion requires all visitors to the building to show proof of full vaccination before entry. As of this writing, the province has mandated that masks will be required in all indoor public places. If you wish to attend this meeting via Zoom, please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com for a link. Not a member? Not a problem! Guests are always warmly welcomed.
 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club to hold a combination in-person and virtual meeting on September 17

The WMRC will be holding its first in-person meeting in a year on September 17. The meeting will also be seen live on Zoom. As both of our presenters will be doing their clinics outside of the province via Zoom, it was a simple matter to hold an in-person and a virtual meeting simultaneously.

The date has been moved from the usual second Friday of the month to Friday, September 17 as Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion is being used as an advance polling station.

Our first clinic features Gerry Schaefer, an accomplished modeller who is writes about trains and model railroading under the name of Hunter Hughson. He has had several features published in Railroad Model Craftsman and publishes two blogs, Ontario in HO Scale and The Niagara Branch. He has produced ten virtual RPMs under the brand Hindsight 20/20. His modelling is focused on the Penn Central and Lehigh Valley in the early 1970s.

Gerry's clinic tracks the construction of a Cannon & Company laser cut styrene kit of a Great Northern plate C double door boxcar. It covers techniques for working with styrene and a layered approach to weathering that starts with custom mixed paint colours to achieve a faded look under the lettering and progresses through weathering to the finished model.

Capacity at the Tank Room at the Legion is limited to 50 persons. The Legion requires all visitors to the building to show proof of full vaccination before entry. As of this writing, the province has mandated that masks will be required at all indoor public places. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard on September 17. Not a member? Not a problem! Guests are always warmly welcomed. If you wish to attend the Zoom meeting only, please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we will send you a link.
 

Five great entries for the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual photo contest's prototype category

 WMRC members Cliff Davidson, Christopher Robinson and Dave Downie submitted these great entries for the club's annual photo contest in the prototype category at our AGM, which was held via Zoom on May 14.

Cliff caught this striking image of a CP lash up at sunset (pictured above). He also took this photo of a CP freight rolling under the overpass at Portage La Prairie (pictured below). WMRC program director Dave Downie submitted photos of a structure in Beacon, New York that he took in 1980. He also sent in this image of the Milwaukee Road's famous observation car when it passed through Portage in 2007. Christopher Robinson submitted this pastoral scene of a turnout at a lakeside. Great work, guys!

More great photos from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual photo contest for 2021

Felix Lesiuk submitted this timely and humorous "social distancing" locomotive for the photo contest.

We had such great photos submitted for our annual photo contest that we decided to post more of them! The model contest was held at the club's virtual GM, which was held on Zoom on Friday, May 14. This week we're featuring the model contest entries. 

Felix Lesiuk tickled our funny bone with a "socially distant" BNSF Geep wearing a mask. Christopher Robinson submitted two o=images of his great Algoma Central model work. Cliff Davidson showed us a CP and a Kansas City Southern (soon to be CP?) unit coming out of the same tunnel. Ed Hector sent in a model or a water tower that he's been working on. 

Winners of Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2021 annual photo contest announced

Long time WMRC members Felix Lesiuk and Dave Downie have won the club's annual photo contest for 2021. The winners were announced at the club's AGM, which was held on Zoom on May 14 by photo contest chair Bart Hasslefield. 

Felix, who has served in the past as the club's photo contest chair, won in the prototype category. Felix is a dedicated and talented rail fan photographer, and his images have graced the posts of this blog and the WMRC Facebook page for many years.

Dave won in the model category. Dave is currently the club's program director, which is a position he has held previously. He has also served two separate terms as the club's president.

Bob Harrison captures image of Herzog multipurpose unit on CN mainline

WMRC president Bob Harrison has been a regular contributor to the club's on-line photo display at our  monthly Zoom meetings. He caught this rare image of a Herzog maintenance of way multipurpose self propelled unit along the CN mainline by Wilkes avenue. He also contributed two other photos, a unique  Central Manitoba Railway triple lash-up and double stacks going over the bridge at The Forks on the CN mainline.

3d printing and a living room layout featured at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's March virtual meeting

 At our next Zoom meeting Tyler Fedoroshyn will conduct a presentation on modelling with the aid of a 3D printer. Learn how 3D printing can be used to create realistic parts that aren’t available commercially. Tyler took the leap into 3D printing and has made a number of unique items for his model railroad. He will give an overview of his printer and the software he uses and show a number of items he has printed. 

Then Christopher Robinson will display his unique model railroad that replicates the Algoma Central's operations in Hawk Junction, Ontario. He'll describe the design and operation of the layout. Christopher has built a portable model railroad that captures the essence of the ACR, is fun to operate and occupies a place of prominence in his living room. 

We will be holding our members monthly photo display. An entry will be chosen by random, and will receive a $20 gift certificate. 

The Zoom meeting starts at 7:30PM on Friday, March12. If you are not a member and wish to attend this meeting, please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com. Guests (even virtual ones) are always warmly welcomed!

Tyler made all of these parts using a 3D printer. See how he did it at our March meeting!

Two great clinics on tap for Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's February Zoom meeting

The WMRC will present two great clinics at their next virtual meeting in February. First, Tommy Kucera will present "A CPR supervisor's journal book", which is an artifact from the 1930s used by at least 3 CPR supervisors in the Western region. It is neither a log book or a diary, but a compendium of odds-and-ends that the supervisors found interesting, useful and important. 

After that, WMRC Secretary Marvin Fetch will present "The Carson & Cobourg Railroad". Marvin and his good friend Vern Gibson have been building one of Winnipeg's finest model railroads with unsurpassed levels of detail. He will describe the construction and operation of this masterpiece while showing photos of the layout. 

The club will still be holding their monthly Photo Contest. Members can send in their photos (model or prototype) to Bart Hasselfield at wmrcphotocontest@gmail.com. The photos will be shown at the meeting during the break. One lucky entry will win a $20 gift certificate. The deadline for submissions is 5:00pm on Friday, Feb 12.

The meeting starts on-line at 7:30 PM on Friday, February 12. Members have already received the Zoom link. If you are not a member and wish to attend the virtual meeting, please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com. Guests (even virtual ones) are always warmly welcomed!

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's first virtual test meeting was a success

Seventeen happy WMRC members participated in the club's first virtual test meeting on Zoom, which was held on Friday, December 4, at 7:30 PM.  WMRC treasurer John Bate did a sterling job of guiding our members through the process.

The club is now well prepared to hold their first official member's virtual meeting on Friday, November 11, at 7:30PM. After a short business meeting, the club will hold two clinics. John Bate will give a demonstration of LCC, or layout command control system, and Dave Downie will hold a clinic on the elements of layout design.

Those whose names are on our members e-mail lists have already been informed about this meeting. All members on the e-mail list for the past season have been invited. You have until December 31, 2020 to pay your dues if you haven't done so already.  

If you are not a member and wish to join us in our virtual meeting please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we'll see if we can fit you in.

 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club to hold a Zoom meeting in December

And now for something completely different! The WMRC will hold its very first  member's meeting on Zoom! The meeting will be in two parts, on two different dates.

The first meeting will be held on Friday, December 4 at 7:30PM. It will be an informal meeting which will serve as a test run. There will be no business meeting or clinics. If you have something for an informal show-and-tell, bring it along! This meeting will give you the chance to practice with Zoom if you've not used it before. It will also give the moderator a chance to practice managing the meeting. Be prepared to be a guinea pig!

Having ironed out the bugs (hopefully), we will hold our official monthly meeting on Friday, December 11at 7:30PM. There will be no canteen or 50-50 draw. There will be a short business meeting and two clinics.

Those whose names are on our members lists have already been informed by email about these meetings. If you are not a member and wish to participate please email us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we'll see if we can fit you in.

Operations Special Interest Group holds weekly virtual train meets

Due to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on model railroading, the Operations Special Interest Group (OPSIG) have been hosting virtual train meets on Sunday afternoons. Their next meet is on Sunday, May 31 from 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM EDT. Replays will be posted on YouTube.

The meet starts with five minutes of announcements, followed by a 20 minute presentation and a five minute question period. A second presentation with a five minute question period follows. After the two presentations, the virtual meeting is open for discussion.

The meetings are hosted on Zoom and they can accommodate up to 500 participants. In June, the board will determine if the interest is high enough to continue the meetings for another month. Without the “large meeting” add-on, they are limited to 100 participants.

For more information about these meetings, go to: https://www.opsig.org/Virtual

The 7th Division PNR holds virtual railway modellers meet

The 7th Division Pacific Northwest Region of the NMRA is holding a free virtual railway modellers meet. It will feature interactive clinics where audience members can ask questions and participate.


There will be two clinics each session with a 30 minute break between clinics. Sessions will run Thursday evenings until June 11, 2020. Each session with start at 7:00pm Pacific Time and end by 9:30 pm at the latest. The Zoom meeting room will open 15 minutes in advance. Please join before 7:00 pm in case you have any computer issues.


Register here by providing your name and email address. All registrants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting page that you can use to log into the clinic presentations once a week, two days in advance of each session. 

You can attend the meeting using the Zoom website.  While you don’t need to download Zoom, it is recommended that you use the Zoom app and are familiar with it before attending.


There will also be a two hour Virtual Display Room and “Meet the Modeller” event using Zoom on Thursday, June 4. Modellers will be asked to submit a short information form and photographs of their model to the Display Room coordinator by May 29.



An online slide show of the submissions will be created, and a moderator will walk through the photos in a real-time question and answer session with each participant.  Each modeller will be invited to say a few words about the project.


For more information about the virtual railway modellers meet, please go to the following links:
https://mailchi.mp/806bf3599fe5/announcing-the-virtual-railway-modellers-meet-of-british-columbia
http://railwaymodellersmeetofbc.ca/